Testing the Water

This past week in United States History we studied the founding documents and discussed how America became an independent country. The hard part about teaching history is that a lot of the material requires the students to understand a lot of concept.  The best way for me to teach them over 500 years worth of history is to break it down as much as possible and to also find a way to apply it to their everyday lives. I think the day they and I both enjoyed this week was Thursday. I had the desk separated in to 6 groups with 4 group members. I wrote out six different real life scenarios concerning the Bill of Rights (The first ten amendments). For example " Jose’s grandfather has a collection of antique rifles, shotguns, and handguns. He keeps them in a safe in the house. His neighbor is afraid of guns and calls and reports Jose’s grandfather to the police. Can he be arrested for having the guns?" This one always gets the conversation going for two reason: obviously Texas is a big gun state and my students like to make it clear that they really appreciate their second amendment right. It's awesome to see them actually have a conversation with their classmates. It also proves to them how neat it is that we are able to study a document over 200 years old that still plays a part in our actual lives. In one class we even got into a discussion about gun control and whether we should have stricter gun laws. I know…It is only week two and we are already having class discussion...I am super proud!

I am currently the Social Studies Department Head at my school. Believe me I did not receive this position because of my vast years of experience in teaching or knowledge of History. Let's be real…I barely have one year under my belt but since I was the only Social Studies teacher that my school kept from last year the position became mine. It comes with no increase in pay and additional work. Yippie!

This week has also been all about the students seeing what they can get away with...aka "testing the water". They know teachers are human and they want to see what buttons they can push and how I will react. One of the hardest things I had to work on my first year of teaching was controlling the tone in my voice. This was difficult. I am a very happy and fun loving person but I did inherit a bit of temper and when a student pushes my buttons I literally have to make a conscious decision in my head to STOP remain calm and speak in my normal teaching voice. Proverbs 15: 18 "A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention"

In every situation there is a common rule to follow always do what will De-escalate the situation. Whether it is two female students who may look at each other and start a verbal fight (I've learned that girls always go for the other girls weave) or two boys ready to show who is dominate you learn that you have to remain calm. It is a skill that that can't be taught I think it must be learned through experience. The hard part is dealing with the emotion that follows an intense encounter with students. Sometimes I cannot stop laughing other times its end with me in tears or on occasion a combination of both.

My mom always says that I'm a horrible liar because I wear all my emotion in my eyes. She says my eyes tell it all...I think my students would agree with her. Why are moms always right? I had a reminder this week that life is so precious and it really put things into perspective for me. Yes, I have great days in the classroom and I have frustrating days in the classroom, but at the end of the day I need to constantly remind myself how truly blessed I really am. I was so fortunate to be able to spend time with family in Dallas this weekend. I have an amazing family who has put up with my craziness and loves me unconditionally. Not to mention the caring and generous friends who put up with me on a daily basis. As always it has been a challenging week but I know that my purpose is to serve these students as best I can. Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."